FYI: Refurbished Epson R-D1's available.

Just a heads-up, Epson is offering factory refurbished R-D1's on their website again:

 

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=63064248

Yikes. What's the photo.net software up to now? I'll try the link again:

<p>

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?

BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=63064248

The first link worked fine for me. BTW with discount code 6ZNAXFP it's 10% off. $1395, no IR filters required. Would make a great backup if and when Leica gets it together. I'm tempted.

Cool. Except, of course, there is no dealer in Canada. Or at least none near "Canada" & any Canadian postal code. Mind you I only tried my own and "M5W 1E6".

You don't need to find a dealer, you can buy it directly off the website. I don't know if they have a policy against selling to someone outside the US though.

I've seen elsewhere that they don't sell outside the US. <p>

For this kind of price the R-D1 seems a real bargain, as long as you get one

that's working. I was lucky enough to find one with a six month guarantee from

a uk dealer, and am a real convert. What strikes me after using one for a

couple of months is how superior it is to the M8 in several ergonomic

respects, notably how quickly you can change asa and white balance. I do

just the tiniest bit of paid work, but reckon if mine keeps working for two years,

it will have paid for itself. BUT factor against that the fact you are likely to need

a new wide-angle lens, that the VC 25mm vignettes badly on the R-D1, and

that you're therefore likely to end up shelling $900 plus on a Zeiss 25/2.8.

Swings, roundabouts &c &c...

"VC 25mm vignettes badly on the R-D1, and that you're therefore likely to end up shelling $900 plus on a Zeiss 25/2.8."

 

That, or use the Filters/Distort/Lens Corrections vignetting correction in CS2. Probably write an action for each lens and batch them.

Fair point but for the fact the VC 25 is no good for critical focusing and

vignetting correction in PS is a crutch rather than a cure - noise problems. I've

owned and sold a VC25 - it's great value for money, but not one of their best

lenses.

Try the VC 21mm f4 or the 21mm Elmarit f2.8 along with a VC 28/35 minifinder. I find the 28mm frame in the minifinder is perfect for either of these lenses when used with the RD-1s.

If you shoot RAW like you should, the vignetting problems that some lenses exhibit on the

R-D1 is really not a big deal at all.